1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of stethoscopes. In particular, the present invention relates to an acoustic conduit or tube of a stethoscope.
2. Description of Related Art
Auscultation may be used to diagnosis medical ailments. Stethoscopes may allow a healthcare provider to listen to and identify sounds, and these sounds may be associated with various abnormalities or ailments. One such sound is a heart murmur, which, when detected, may indicate that a patient possesses a specific abnormality of the heart. Identifying the specific sound indicative of the specific heart murmur may be difficult.
Some known stethoscopes are designed to detect sounds produced in a human body. One known stethoscope includes a plurality of ear pieces connected to a bell/diaphragm by a tube for receiving sounds. This known stethoscope may be useful in detecting some sounds associated with specific abnormalities. However, may physiological sounds are reproduced without sufficient clarity to perform rapid and accurate diagnosis when using this known stethoscope. Further, artifact from external noise may distort physiological sounds, such that it may be difficult to detect some sounds associated with specific abnormalities using this known stethoscope.
One factor which may affect the quality of sound reproduced by a stethoscope is a stethoscope head and an acoustic conduit or tube. In one known stethoscope, the acoustic conduit may be a single acoustic chamber formed by the inner diameter of a flexible hollow tube or, alternatively, by two acoustic chambers attached side by side, so as to maintain individual conduits for each ear piece. However, this known stethoscope may be susceptible to artifact interference from external noise caused by indirect and direct contact with the acoustic conduit(s).